Grave Danger A different POV
by InnaM
Summary: This episode was good, but this is what i think should have happened! Sara is all torn up when Nick goes missing. my first fanfiction story ever so please go easy!::
1. Chapter 1

"**Grave Danger"—A different POV**

**Chapter 1**

"No, no, I am paying for this," Sara said, trying to finalize the issue.

"I don't think so. You paid for the movie, I'm paying for the dinner." Nick retorted.

She gave him her squinted-eye-glare trying to get him to swing her way but she caved before he did. "Fine" she said reluctantly and Nick gave his credit card to the waitress standing over them.

They sat in silence for a moment before Nick said, "I'm really glad you decided to come." He reached over and touched her hand.

"Well this is defiantly not what I expected." She said, taking a sip from her Diet Coke.

"What does that mean?"

"Well," she realized she hadn't said the right thing, "I wasn't really sure what to expect. But Nick, this has been so much fun." She gave him that pursed-lip smile he loved so much. He returned it with his full-wattage-Nick-Stokes-smile. They sat in comfortable silence, still holding hands, until the waitress came back. They left the restaurant still hand in hand, walking to the car. He opened the door for her while she got in, leaving her thinking "_this is the best date I have ever been on." _

They talked about nothing in particular on the drive back to Sara's place, quickly falling into a comfortable silence. He was wondering if she had enjoyed herself, but Sara was thinking about something completely different, "_What would Grissom and everyone say if they found us together? Should we tell them?"_

Nick interrupted her thoughts by saying, "Oh man I love this song." He turned the volume up and Sara realized they were listening to a Country Western Station. She didn't recognize the song but she listened to the lyrics anyway.

"_I was Christmas in Las Vegas, when the locals take the town_"

"I actually have this CD." Nick said

"I guess its ok." Sara said back.

"Ok?! This is a classic!"

Sara smiled at his enthusiasm. She knew nothing about Country music, so she figured she would have to take his word for it.

She looked at him and smiled; he was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel singing to the song. She went back to thinking while Nick was singing softly to the lyrics. They remained this way until they pulled up to Sara's condo.

"…Sara, hello Sara," Nick was saying

"huh?"

"We're here." Nick gave half a laugh, "where were you?"

"Oh I was just thinking." She was just about the turn to open the door when she knocked her purse over at her feet. Seeing an opportunity to be a gentleman, Nick quickly ran over to her side and opened the car door for her. That won him another Sara smile. "You know I can open the door myself," she said playfully.

He just smiled while he helped her down. He took her hand and walked her to the steps. They stopped there and waited for nothing in particular. She looked up at him for a moment and their eyes locked. Sara quickly looked down, "_I'm no good at this,"_ she thought. But Nick had done this many times before. He carefully reached over and pulled her chin up with his finger. Their eyes met for a brief moment until he kissed her. It was soft and she was surprised, but it only lasted a few moments. He pulled away and looked at her face. His finger was still under her chin and her eyes were closed. She opened them slowly and whispered, "Hmmm," pursing her lips

He smiled his Texas smile and she kissed him again, harder this time. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck while he slid his around her waist. They stood there kissing, each amazed at how good it felt.

Sara barely noticed when her cell phone started ringing in her purse. "Damn it," she said pulling quickly away from Nick. She opened the cell phone and shouted "What," into it, a little louder then intended.

"Uh, Sara? Sorry is this a bad time?" Grissom's voice spoke in her ear.

"Um, no, no Grissom I was just kind of…in the middle of something." Sara said trying to bring herself out of the clouds. She looked up at Nick, who still had his arms around her back. She slipped her arm around his waist and she rested her head on his chest while she talked.

"Ok, well I need you to come in. I just got a break in our case." Sara tried to remember the case they were working on. Then she remembered; lots of blood in warehouse. Resident called in gunshots.

"Alright, when do you need me to come in?"

"Now." Grissom urgency.

"Fine, um ok, just let me change and then I'll be right there…Bye Grissom."

She hung up her cell phone and looked up at Nick, biting her bottom lip. "I'm really sorry…" she said under her breath.

He just smiled and said, "Its fine. I have to go into work anyway." He kissed the top of her head and she stepped away. "Ok." She walked up her steps, but before she opened the door she turned around. "Nick." She said to the receding man.

He whipped around and looked at her. "I don't think we should tell Grissom just yet."

"No. No, definitely not." He said with a smile.

They looked at each other a moment longer and Sara smiled saying, "And thanks for the bear." She didn't wait for a reply while she stepped through the door. After shutting it, she leaned against the door and smiled. She took the little soft teddy bear out of her purse and looked at it. She thought she would always remember how she got it.

_"Oh, wait a second look at those bears!" Sara had said with adoration in her voice._

_"What?"_

_"Those bears, look how cute they are."_

_He had just smiled at her. "You gonna try and win one?"_

_"You bet I am." She had said, taking a dollar out of her purse. She had thought she would be able to win a bear simply by grabbing it with a hook. "_Piece of cake"_ She had thought. But when the little bear had dropped out of the hook, she had looked at the machine and yelled "What?! I had it right there!"_

_Nick still hadn't stopped smiling, and said, "Let me try."_

_"No way. I can do this myself."_

_"Come on, I'll get you one," he had said, taking the little joist stick from her hand._

_She glared at him a moment then said "Alright, but its probably too hard anyway," and stepped aside._

_A moment later Sara saw the little bear drop into the dispenser. She looked at him and she couldn't help but smile. He had had his arms up as if he had just scored a touchdown and had had the biggest smile on his face. "Who's good?"_

_She crossed her arms and tried to look angry, but it was useless. He just looked so cute standing there._

_He carefully reached down and took the bear he had just won out of the machine. "A beautiful bear, for a beautiful girl." He had said, handing it to her._

_She took it, still smiling and said, "Good job, Romeo. Now if we don't go soon, we are going to be late for our reservations."_

_She left the movie theatre with Nick close on her heels, putting the into her purse._

Sara came back from her little day dream and realized that she was standing there smiling like a fool. Then she remembered she had to go into the lab. She took a deep breath and hopped off to her bedroom to change, singing all the way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After getting his assignment from Catherine, Nick was driving down Covalt Street, in a really good mood. He pulled a CD out of the glove compartment and slid it into the player. He skipped right to the song they had heard in the car together.

_"It was Christmas in Las Vegas, when the locals take the town. Theresa hit a streak and laid her waitress apron down."_ Nick sang along with the song, heading for his crime scene, drumming on the wheel.

Back at the lab, Sara was just taking off her coat in the locker room. She was looking in her purse for her cell phone, when she came across that little bear again. She pulled it out and looked at it, smiling like a little school girl.

Just then Grissom appeared in the doorway. "Oh Sara there you are. I need to talk to you"

Sara jumped and instinctively threw the bear into her locker. She shut it with her foot and followed Grissom out into the hallway.

He explained his recent experiment but she quickly challenged it.

"No. No, Grissom, that is impossible. I sampled every square inch of that crime scene and there was only one blood type."

"How 'bout that…our mystery vic's are identical twins." He said finally, sitting behind his desk, giving a little smile.

"Twins?" she said, not believing what she was hearing. "Well, that different." She figured it was easier to agree with Grissom. Trying to understand him would drive her crazy.

"Technically, it's the same," he was saying. She smiled at him. Normally she would have rolled her eyes at him and left, but she was in an especially good mood today.

They talked for a while longer, then Sara left to go work on other things the case had given them, humming softly to herself.

Sara skipped into the break room and went straight for the mini fridge in the corner. She pulled out a bottle of water and turned to see Greg coming into the room, on his cell phone. He hung up and sat at the table, looking very frustrated.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked him.

"I can't believe it. I…I just can't" Greg was saying, looking close to tears.

"What?" she asked, sitting down across from him.

"You haven't heard yet?" Greg asked in disbelief. She looked a question at him. "Nick was kidnapped. Like an hour ago. He…"

But that was all she heard. Her mouth fell open and she thought she might pass out. "Wha…When, when did….what happened?" she said, barley able to form words in her mouth.

"They don't know who took him. Grissom is there now."

Sara stood up so fast her chair was knocked to the ground. She stepped over it while dialing her cell phone. She realized it was dead and ran to reception to borrow their phone. She dialed his number wrong three times before getting it right. She waited and waited before Nick's cheery voice rang in her ears. "I'm not here right now. Leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you."

"Damn it!!" slamming the phone down she tried his number four more times, finally slamming the phone down in frustration. She was close to tears before she tried another number. When he picked up she started yelling things in his ear.

"What's happening?!? Where are you? You didn't tell me! Where is he?"

Grissom carefully told Sara to calm down and when she finally did he tried to explain. "I couldn't reach you on your cell. I'm at the crime scene now. We don't know where he is."

The calm in his voice brought the tears closer to falling. "C-Can…Can I help?" she managed to get out.

"We're almost done here. I'm coming back and I'll give you some things to work on. I'll be there in five minutes."

"O-ok" she said trying to stay clam. When she hung up Greg was standing behind her. She looked at him.. "We'll get him back" he said, trying to calm her by putting a hand on her arm. She looked at him a moment, spun on her heel and walked back into the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ten minutes later Sara was walking down the hall toward Grissom. She was close to tears again and waited for him to start talking. He had a paper evidence bag in his hands along with what she assumed was Nick's camera in a bag.

"Process these," he said, putting the two bags in her hands then turing to go.

"Wait, whoa whoa whoa," she said running around to block his path. "You're not going to tell me anything?" she asked with an edge to her voice.

"You already know everything I do. I need you to process these. Then I can tell you something." He said abruptly and walked around her. "I'll see you in half an hour!" he shouted over his shoulder. Sara looked at him with her mouth open a little. She looked at the empty layout room next to her with a tight mouth and huffed a breath. "Fine then," she said to the closed door and went in to do her job.

She was sitting in the layout room, processing the evidence Grissom had given her. She went through the motions of working, not really noticing what she was doing. She paused for a moment, thinking about how happy she had been just hours before. Seemed like a lifetime. Then she thought of their kiss. How good it had felt. She so badly wanted to do it again. "_I have to stop thinking about it,"_ she thought. She noticed she was crying and tried to wipe the tears away before anyone noticed.

She was just about the open the bag with the Styrofoam cup in it when Grissom walked in.

"Tell me something," he said, the urgency and frustration evident in his voice.

"I swabbed the seal for epithelials but there were no prints on the outside of the bag." She said, trying to sound as clam as possible.

He let out a sigh and said, "What about Nick's camera?"

"There were no fingerprints. Pictures were mostly generals with a few close ups of trash and entrails, but no lucky grabs of anyone else at the scene." She looked at him expecting him to tell her something in return. But all she got was

"I don't think we're going to get lucky with this guy, he knows how to work clean."

"ok," she said to his back, the lump coming back into her throat.

A couple minutes later Greg poked his head into the layout room. "Meeting," was all he said and Sara quickly grabbed her stuff to follow Greg into the meeting room.

She got a cup of coffee and sat down next to Grissom just as Warrick and Catherine came into the room. Warrick was telling them about cars and trucks on camera. Sara realized that this was much worse then she anticipated. "So nick could be anywhere from Green Valley to Seven Hills to Arizona."

"Assuming he was in that truck," said Greg, just worsening the situation. She looked at him wishing he was wrong.

"….vest, were traces of Ether." Catherine was saying.

"Ether, that's old school," Sara said.

" People work with what they know." Grissom said.

Next, Greg told them they had no new leads on who could have done it. That made sense to Sara. _"Who could hurt such a nice guy," _a question she had been asking herself. She voiced that opinion, "Maybe it was a random act."

"That's possible," Catherine replied, "no one could have known Nick was going to respond."

"Yeah, it's just bad luck he did," Warrick said with a hint of regret in his voice. Sara looked at him and wondered what had happened. She made a mental note to ask him later.

Her name brought her back, "What about the coffee cup?"

"There was No DNA on the cup and I found no prints on the cup or the inside of the bag." She could see Grissom thinking this over when she heard yelling in the background. She tried to figure out where it was coming from, and noticed Grissom and Warrick were already heading out the door. She got up quickly and followed them to the main doors.

At first she just thought "_Hodges being Hodges again,"_ When she saw him attacking a guy, but Grissom tried to figure out more. "What are you doing Hodges?" he asked obviously annoyed. He started Blabbering on about how the guy had a package, and Hodges didn't want to ruin it, "_blah, blah, blah,"_ Sara thought, but Nick's name caught her attention. She tried to remember what was said. Then her brain clicked 'about Nick'!

Her mind was racing as she looked at the package sitting on the counter. Sure enough it was addressed to the lab with 'RE: Stokes' written on the bottom. She wanted to snatch the package and rip it open but Grissom got there first. "I think I'm going to do this," He said. He picked it up and walked away.

Sara walked over to the counter and leaned, two handed, against it trying to let out the breath she had no idea she was holding. Greg looked at her and put his hand on her arm. She turned and leaned backwards on the counter.

"You ok?" he asked?

"Yeah," she said. She could tell Greg didn't believe her.

She looked up and saw Grissom working with the ALS. She was so anxious to see what this sick bastered had sent them about Nick that she could barley look at how calm Grissom was.

Finally he opened it and she could see him empty it's contents onto the counter. She couldn't tell what it was, and then she really wanted to, but later she would be wishing she hadn't.

Nick woke up but didn't open his eyes. He had a huge headache and couldn't remember where he had gotten it. Then he remembered being in a car. And being really scared. He tried to get up quickly on realizing that he could be in danger, only to hit his head on something hard. He touched it hoping it wouldn't bruise. He spat because he could still taste that bitter taste in his mouth. That's when he noticed that he wasn't in bed. He was lying on something hard, and there was a freakish green glow around him.

He reached around him and picked up a glow stick. He used it to look around him, still curious as to where he was. He saw dirt around him and wondered "_Where the heck am I?"_

He felt around him to see what else could tell him where he was. He reached to the same side he found the glow stick and touched cold metal. He picked up his gun and wondered what it was doing here. After checking the rounds he went back to trying to figure out what was going on. He picked up the glow stick again and tapped the glass, realizing it was plexi glass.

"_odd," _ He thought.

Realizing he might be in trouble, he looked around him again, this time on the other side of his body, retrieving a tape recorder. A little reluctant, he presses play.

"hi CSI guy," said a creepy voice, "Wondering why you're here? Because you followed the evidence…because that's what CSIs do. So breathe quick, breath slow, put your gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Whatever way you want, your gonna die here.

Nick opened his mouth in horror. _"Who was this? What did I do?" _He asked frantically. He dropped the tape and tried to roll over in the box. It was too tight so he rolled back over and tried to bench press the ceiling up. "_Come on!" _he thought, trying desperately to move the solid wall of dirt.

Giving that up he realized he was stuck here…but maybe someone was within earshot, she he screamed. He screamed until his voice went hoarse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Grissom put the tape into the cassette player and pressed play. Expecting a ransom message, he was surprised to hear music startup in preppy beat that had no place in the grave room. He looked up to the faces of his team, minus one. All their faces mimicked what he was feeling: confusion and anger.

Sara recognized the song. She couldn't remember what it was called but remembered listening to it a long time ago. And she certainly recognized the lyrics…which, she found, were appropriate for a kidnapper.

_"You don't stand an out side, you don't stand and outside, you don't stand and outside chance! But you can try."_

Catherine voiced Sara's opinion, "He's toying with us."

Grissom realized that the tape was not going to show them anything else, so he picked up the other item on the table; something Sara hadn't noticed was even there.

Grissom put the jump stick into the computer and waited. The ransom message was expected but when "Now, you can only watch" appeared on the screen, he knew it was more. He took a deep breath and pushed the button. What they saw would scar them for the rest of their lives.

Warrick looked at the image, first in disbelief, then in disgust.

Greg nearly lost his lunch looking at the image of Nick.

Grissom was plain surprised as to why anyone would do this.

Catherine felt so scared. _"Why were these people doing this to our Nicky?"_

But Sara was the most torn up of all of them. The normally tough woman felt herself slipping away. She thought she might break down right there in front of them. She felt the tears coming, but she willed them back. She was just stood there. She didn't understand and thought she might just faint. Right there in the middle of the AV lab in front of her boss and co-workers, listening to The turtles sing about chance. "_That's who sings that song"_ she realized, trying to divert her attention so she would remain standing.

Miles away, Nick jumped at the sudden change in scenery. The light that he hadn't noticed was blaring at his feet. He looked down at it and wondered what had turned it on. He tried to understand, but couldn't so he tossed on the hard floor, slowly suffocating him in his little coffin.

Grissom walked over to the table. He had used to say that "whenever in doubt, rely on the science," so that's exactly what he did now. He quickly calculated the breaths of a human and told the people still transfixed to the computer screen.

Sara was still trying to understand what was happening and she couldn't understand how Grissom was still able to think clearly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sara was walking down the hall, stretching her legs, when she noticed two people in the lobby who were asking about Nick. She knew Nick's parents were coming down to discuss the ransom and had been hoping to talk to them. She wanted to meet the people who had raised such a nice guy.

She went over to the now sitting couple and introduced herself as a CSI working on his case.

"You know where my boy is?" Nick's father said with his Texas drawl.

"No, no im sorry, we don't, but I can tell you that not one person has left since he went missing and everyone in this building is working on his case."

"Am I supposed to talk to you about the money?"

"No, actually I just wanted meet you…um…nick has always said nice things about you," Sara said looking at her feet.

Just then Grissom walked up behind Sara. "Mr. and Mrs. Stokes?" he asked, making Sara jump. He led them toward the meeting room, glancing back at Sara, wondering why she was talking to Nick's parents.

"She got the money?" Sara asked, bewildered.

"Yep." Was Warrick's simple answer.

"…How?"

"Her dad."

"I see."

"Yep."

They both sat in silence for a moment. Then, "So what are we doing now?" she asked.

"Waiting." She looked at him, waiting for him to go on. "Grissom is doing the drop off." He said in a monotone voice. "Alone."

"Alone?"

"Alone."

"Why?"

She was answered by a shrug of his shoulders. Again they fell into silence. They both were anxious to find Nick but they had also been up and working for more then 14 hours. Suddenly, Sara and Warrick's pagers beeped at the same time. Looking at the display, they looked at each other and got up in a rush, Warrick grabbing his car keys on the way.

"What the hell happened?" Warrick yelled at Catherine.

"Drop off went nasty," she said, annoyance apparent in her voice, "We're waiting to get in."

About 5 minutes later they were led into the crime scene, past a scratched, dazed Grissom into a bloody mess smelling like dust and the smell that Sara had come to know as dead body. Doing a quick walk through, they decided Warrick and Greg would get the car, Catherine and Sara the body. Catherine was busy with the largest piece of body while Sara did her own walk through of the bloody, money scattered floor. She was looking at pieces of flesh when she spotted it. A thumb. They worked the scene a while longer and realized that the day was not over yet. This nightmare was nowhere near done.

Nick, completely oblivious to the people who had already come to see him, was sweating bullets in his plexi glass box. He wasn't aware why the light kept torturing him, but his scientific mind had put it together; the fan was connected to the light. The fan reliving him while the light was off was being turned off every time that damned light turned on.

Knowing he had to stop that light from torturing him, he decided to take action. He took some gum out of his pocket and made some makeshift earplugs. He used the gun too shoot out the light, not know he nearly sent his best friend into cardiac arrest miles away.

After Warrick calmed down watching Nick shoot the light out, he went to the locker room. He sat down and tried to stop the emotions from flooding forward. He let out a huge sigh just as Sara walked into the door. She had come in for the same reason he had and knew it when she saw the look on his face. She didn't really know what to say so she said the simplest thing she could, "You ok?"

Warrick gave her a half a laugh and a shake of the head as an answer, but that was all she really needed.

"Yeah, me too."

"This really sucks, you know?" Warrick said after a moment. She just looked at him

"My best friend is….well he's not doing well and I can't do anything, all because some random dick decided to have a little fun."

She looked down at her knees. "Yeah I know," was all she managed.

"I just," Warrick's voice began to crack. He cleared his throat. "I just want him back." He said. With that he got up, "I need more coffee," was his explanation.

Sara sat a moment and then got up and opened her locker. She was looking for something to occupy her when she felt the tears. She willed them back but it was useless. She put her arms on the shelf and cried. Her arms fell on something soft. She looked up and wiped the tears with one hand while she looked at what she was touching.

She pulled the little white teddy bear that Nick had won her only a day ago. When she looked at the little plush's eyes she smiled. They were the exact same color as Nick's. She let out a sob while smiling. Suddenly she had the sudden urge to go see Nick. She took the bear, slammed the locker shut with her foot and headed for the room she had been avoiding for about a day.

She stood at the door, trying to get up the courage to go into the room. She took a deep breath and went in, arms crossed but still holding the little bear. Archie looked up from the computer screen. "Hey Sar."

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him. She just walked up to the TV screen, eyes fixed on the poor man displayed there. The tears came down but she didn't care. She just walked up the screen until she was almost touching it with her nose. She was digging her fingernails into the bear so hard she thought she was going to rip it, but she didn't care. She just watched the screen, waiting for something to happen.

She watched him for a few minutes then realized that he was talking. She looked closer. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but she could tell he was smiling. Somehow, watching him smile like that gave her strength. All the tiredness and weakness and scared that she was feeling lifted, and she knew she would be able to do this. To help Nick until he was safe at home. And Right then and there, that is what she promised…that she would not rest until nick was safe at home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

After watching Nick for about 15 minutes, Sara went back to do some work. After getting frustrated she went out to clear her head. She went to get a drink from the water fountain but realized after about a minute she noticed that she was only watching the water. Suddenly Mia came into the room and said she had something. Sara got up so fast she nearly fell back over again.

Mia told her about the moderate stringency match for a Kelly Gordon. Sara felt herself perk up at finding her first lead in this long case. She rushed to tell Brass to bring Kelly in.

Brass and Sara walked into the interrogation room and sat down next to a blond in an orange jumpsuit watching her hands. Brass started the conversation, but Sara wasn't really listening. She knew Kelly had something to do with it and she was trying to pierce her with her eyes until she gave something up. Finally she lost it.

"Nick is still missing!"

"Who?" Kelly asked, genuinely surprised.

"The CSI…is still missing." Sara got nothing from her outburst except a comment from the cold girl in from of them that was enough to chill her bones; "I hope your friend dies." That almost sent Sara sailing off to strangle her, but thankfully, she restrained herself.

Nick lay silently in the dark. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer, but that thought wasn't really haunting him. He started thinking about his life. What he had done, what he was proud of. Eventually, he came to Sara. He gave a big smile as he thought about their kiss. "_Best kiss I've ever had_" He thought. He thought about how he and Sara were friends. He never would have guessed she was a good kisser. He remembered the song. He started to sing. "_It was Christmas in Las Vegas"_ All the while smiling.

He sang the song 4 times before he heard it. Faint at first, he wasn't even sure if it was there. But he listened harder and sure enough, he heard scraping coming from above him. It hit him; there were people coming for him. He started to yell for them, but he quickly changed to singing. "_IT WAS CHRISTMAS IN LAS VEAGAS"_ He tried as hard as he could but he could barely get it out.

Catherine slammed the ground in frustration. "It's a god damned dog!" she yelled to nobody in particular, close to tears. Nick was still miles away waiting for someone to find him.

Nick looked around him. He realized that his coffin was cracking. The dirt was coming in and he wasn't sure how much longer he had before this make shift coffin was replaced by a real one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sara sat there, beside Archie, with her teddy bear, watching Nick. She was barely blinking. Catherine and Warrick and Greg had came back and told them about their close call. They had brought the prototype box back and were processing it as Sara watched Nick in his box. She had her head in her hand and was gazing up at him barely breathing. She was trying to will herself to where he was. She closed her eyes and wished him to come beside her. When she opened her eyes she looked over beside her, but it was still Archie sitting beside her. She sighed and looked back at the screen.

Grissom was in the same room. It was totally silent but he wasn't focusing on that. Even though he wasn't a religious man he was thanking God that he had learned to read lips. He was watching Nick make his ransom note to his family.

Sara had noticed this too, but of coarse she had no idea what he was saying. Grissom was frantically reading his lips when he saw Sara's name appear on his lips. He was surprised to see it but he was even more surprised at what he said. But he was next. He saw 'Grissom' being mouthed on the screen. His eyebrows went up and he waited for Nick to go on.

"_I never meant to disappoint you," _Grissom visualized Nick saying it in his head. For the first time since he got the call out to that lot, he smiled.

"No you never did, Nick," he said to the screen.

Just then Nick dropped the tape. He started to freak out and Sara watched on in horror as she realized what was happening.

"He going into convulsions…He's loosing it!" she said, panic in her voice.

But Grissom knew better. Nick wasn't in convulsions. Looking closer proved it. He was being eaten by ants.

Grissom and Sat in the AV room together, both very different thoughts going through their heads.

Sara was wishing she could comfort Nick. He looked so scared and hurt in there with the ants. Still, she had to look on as he was eaten alive. She watched him stuff gloves into his ears and fabric in his nose and hold still. Grissom's voice came up into the silent room.

"That's it Nicky. Don't move. They won't bite….as much."

Just then Grissom was pulled out of his calculations on how long he thought Nick could last with those ants; he had seen a leg crawl across the screen. He posed his finger over the pause button and waited. Then he started coaxing the ant to come over the camera. "Come on," he said under his breath, just as Sara appeared behind him. "Show me what your made of."

Sara looked at him and wondered why he was talking to himself. Then she saw him freeze the frame. He pushed past her in a rush to get the printout and shouted over his shoulder, "Get everyone in the Layout room in 5 minutes!"

5 minutes later Sara was watching everyone work their magic. They were all talking about where he could be and Sara was trying to search her brain for pertinent information. Then Warrick said, "Ok, there are two nurseries in the overlap."

"_Nurseries?"_ Sara thought. Oh my goodness.

"Wait, Wait. Kelly Gordon, the daughter, she worked with plants!" Sara saw the link, she went out the door heading for Grissom's office. She broke out into a run and retrieved the file. She ran back with the missing piece, the final link to find her best friend and the one person she had been thinking about for more then 24 hours straight.

"Guys, Nick, is here!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Sara sat in the car leaning against the window. Warrick was driving like a maniac. She didn't blame him but all the same she was holding onto the seat for support. He kept on looking at his watch.

"Why do you keep looking at your watch?" she asked

"I've timed Nick. He only has about 15 minutes left of air." His voice did not match the tone that should have been used to say them and Sara knew that they had to find him really, really fast.

Sara jumped out of the car before it even stopped and ran after Grissom who was already on his way out.

"…anything that has been dug up." Great.

Sara took out her flashlight and searched and searched. Then she heard Catherine, only a few meters away yell, "HEY! I'm picking up the webcam transmitter!"

Sara ran. She ran as fast as she could toward Catherine. This was it! They were going to find him!

She came up to Catherine just as she was digging in the ground. Sara saw her pick up the battery and yell, "this is it! I've found him!" Catherine yelled reassurance to Nick and stepped back for the men with shovels to come and dig.

Sara watched them. It was close to silent as they dug. Stars formed. Generations were born and died. Millenniums passed, and 8 minutes later she heard the thunk of a shovel. Her eyes opened wide and she saw Warrick kneel down and brush dirt off a Plexiglas box. Sara shouted to get the paramedics as she saw Warrick talk to Nick.

Sara felt like she was on a cloud as she went down into the hole. She watched at Greg got all the ants off nick. She heard him cry while Warrick told him it was going to be ok. She barely noticed it, but she defiantly heard a cell hone ring. Not moments later, her world came crashing down. Catherine was telling them to get out of the hole. It was going to explode and Sara felt like she might pass out.

As Grissom was informing everyone of his plan, Sara went off to do as she was told. They did their best but the box still exploded. She made sure she was one of the first people at Nick's side after the dust cleared. When she heard it her stomach did a flip-flop.

"Sara?" Weak, but there.

Sara was speechless as she took Nick's hand. But her moment of happiness was taken away as the paramedic told her she had to let go. Catherine and Warrick were going with him instead.

Sara, Grissom, Greg, Brass, and Ecklie stood there watching the ambulance recede, all with different thoughts:

Grissom thought about his team. He missed them and wanted them back.

Brass was thinking about how many times Nick had helped him out and knew now that everything was going to be ok.

Greg was wondering when he could go see his friend.

Sara was thinking how great it would be to be in Nick's arms again. Even though she had only been there once, she knew she could definatly get used to it. Then it dawned on her. She loved him. She loved him and she really hoped he felt the same


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Sara paced her hallway. She was really, really tired, but there was no way she could sleep. She had also tried cleaning, but like sleeping, it was useless. So now she was pacing up an overly shiny hallway trying to distract herself.

She wandered into the kitchen and pulled a book off the small open shelf. She didn't even look at what book she had chosen, and sat down on the counter to read it.

When the phone rang she fell off the counter, dropping the cookbook onto her foot. She shouted a swear her mother would have slapped her for and picked up the phone on the fourth ring. It was Catherine.

"Hey Sara, can you do me a huge favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well, Warrick went home to sleep and I need to go pick up Lindsay. His parents are here but Grissom wants one of us there when Nick wakes up."

Sara couldn't believe her ears. She jumped up on the couch and did a little dance before calming down and saying as casually as she could, "Sure, I'll be right there."

She made record time driving like a maniac to the hospital, and Catherine noticed.

"That was fast." She gave her an odd look. "Anyway, he still hasn't woken up but he should soon."

Sara was looking at the door that separated her from Nick, not being able to get in there fast enough. "Sure, ok," she said to the door.

"Alright then, I'll see you later then."

"Ok." Sara was still talking to the door. Catherine left and Sara opened the door as quietly as she could.

She saw Nick laying there. The lights were off but the light from the hall was coming in through the window and she could see Nick's face. It had ant bites all over it, but Sara couldn't help but think how beautiful it looked. She closed the door and looked to her left. Nick's parents were sitting on the chairs, asleep. Sara sat down on the single chair left in the room. When she did the chair scraped on the floor a little and Nick's mom woke up. She looked over at Sara and she could tell his mom was surprised.

"Oh…I'm so sorry," Sara said, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, no it's ok," his mom said wiping the sleep fro her eyes. "You are the girl from the lab right?" She said in her own Texas accent.

"Yes, I just came to see him," Sara said, "My name is Sara by the way." She couldn't remember introducing herself properly back at the lab.

Nick's mom smiled. "Nice to meet you," she said and rested her head on her husband's shoulder to go back to sleep.

Sara silently slid her chair over to Nick's bedside and looked at his face. She slowly took his hand and smiled at him. She looked down at the hand she was holding and carefully rubbed her finger over one of the bumps on his hand. She sighed and looked back at his face again. He looked very peaceful. Looking at his face she felt all the tiredness come back to her. She hadn't slept in nearly 36 hours and now it came back on her. She said she was only going to sleep a moment, but once she rested her head on his leg, she fell asleep almost instantly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Nick awoke, but didn't move. He was a little uncomfortable lying in the box, but he didn't want to open his eyes. He just wanted to sleep until someone found him. Just then he felt someone move on his leg. He was so surprised he opened his eyes quickly and lifted his head. He felt a sharp pain in his neck and stopped.

He slowly opened his eyes again and looked down to see a brunette sleeping on his leg. There was hair covering her face, but he could tell it was Sara. He looked around. He wasn't in the box anymore! He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them slowly, hoping what he saw was true. He was so relived that he felt tears come to his eyes. He looked down and Sara again and noticed she was holding his hand rather limply. He looked at her smiling so much it hurt as he reached over and touched the hand in his. He rubbed gently, but Sara woke up anyway.

Dazed at first she tried to remember where she was. She looked at Nick and remembered. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand and smiled while lifting slowly.

"I promised myself I was only going to rest my eyes," Sara said, trying to stop the already coming tears from coming.

Nick didn't say anything, just smiled at her. Sara looked down at their hands and quickly took hers away. "Oh…sorry," she whispered. Nick rose a little off the bed and took her hand back. He couldn't stop smiling at her, but he knew if he tried to talk he would start crying. He watched Sara do just that.

She smiled at him weakly and then hung her head and started to cry. She tried to talk but it was coming out in short, quiet gasps. "I…I was s-so scared," she managed, still not looking at him. He leaned forward and used one finger to brush a strand of hair away from her face. Finally Nick spoke, "Me too."

Sara paused and looked at him. She sniffed and watched as Nick's eyes started to well up with tears. He looked down while Sara took her hand out of Nick's and knelt on the bed beside Nick's leg. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug just as he collapsed into tears. They both cried and hugged as Sara planted soft kisses on the top of his head.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again," Nick said softly into her shoulder, between sobs. Sara pulled him away a little and looked at him. She had never been good at comforting people, so she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Well it's ok now. I'm here. Its ok…" she whispered this and they cried some more.

Sara liked being so close to him, but pretty soon they had to pull away. They both wiped their tears away and looked at each other. Nick saw his mom come up behind Sara, smiling very wide. Sara looked at what Nick was looking at and saw his mom coming up behind her, reaching out for a hug from her son. His dad came next and they both hugged him as Sara silently slipped off the bed and out the door to give them some time with their son.

About 20 minutes later Sara came back into the room, knocking softly as she opened it, so she wouldn't be intruding. She held a tray of coffees for her and Nick's parents. Nick was sitting up in his bed and was talking to his mom who was sitting in the chair Sara had slept in, holding Nick's hand. His dad was on the other side of the bed, standing and smiling down at his son.

Sara smiled at all of them, who looked up as she came in. She looked down at her hand. "I, um, brought some coffee," Sara said nervously. Nick's dad came over to her and took one for himself and his wife, "Thank you so much," he said, "I needed one of these." He gave her a smile and she could tell where Nick got his prize winning one.

Nick was speaking behind him. "Oh, mom and dad, this is Sara, we, um, work together."

"Yes, yes, we met her already," Nick's mom said in her kind Texas voice, "nice girl." She said to Nick. "It's very nice to meet you," Nick's dad came over to shake Sara's hand. She smiled at both of them and walked up to the foot of Nick's bed. "How are you doing?" she asked him.

"Great," Nick said smiling. He looked at her a moment, "You didn't get me one?" She sat there confused a moment, then she realized he was talking about the coffee.

"No," she said smiling, "you don't get any until you are out of here." Nick feigned hurt surprise and she just smiled wider.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"No, I have to go back for work!" Nick's dad said back.

"You think I don't have work either? I have a client waiting for me." Nick's mom countered.

"Well we need someone to take him home," was his dad's reply.

It was the next day and Nick was being released from the hospital that day. Both the adults looked over beside the bed at Sara. She was tucking the sheets of Nick's bed in tighter and looked up at the room suddenly going quiet, only to see both parents looking at her. "Could you please do it?" Nick's mom asked taking a step toward her.

"Wa…take him home?" Sara asked a little surprised. She had never been to Nick's house before and she wasn't sure about going there now.

"Yes, please. It would just be for a few days." Nick's mom said, trying to sway her.

"Um…" she looked over at Nick, he had a hint of a smile on his face seeing her get all nervous in front of his parents. "Ok..." she said finally.

"Oh! That would be excellent!" his mom took at little jump and started talking very fast. Sara knew she was a woman who would take charge in any situation and could see her doing that now.

In the rush around the room Sara was just sanding there. She felt Nick touch her shoulder and she looked down at him. "Our first slumber party," he said playfully. She hit him softly on the shoulder and smiled. He pretended to be hurt.

And hour and a half later, Nick's parents were gone and Sara was loading Nick into her car. She had gone home quickly and gotten an overnight bag which was now sitting in the backseat. She had been briefed by the doctors about his medication and his strict bed rest and she was prepared to make sure he got better fast.

The drive to his house was short and silent. When they got there it was about 6 and Sara started right away at Nick's dinner. She wasn't much of a cook so she looked around to see what she could make without burning. She decided on spaghetti because it was easy, just as Nick told her he was going to take a shower. She was just finishing up when she heard the water turn off. She set the table quickly and had just put the last plate on the table when Nick walked in wearing an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants.

"I didn't know you could cook," Nick said sitting down.

She smiled. "I cant really. Spaghetti is my favorite so I learned how to make it. So don't even bother asking me to cook anything else." He smiled at her while she sat down.

They ate and talked about nothing; Nick's parents, Greg's last prank, hospital food. They both agreed it was disgusting. After dinner they continued to talk until the conversation landed on movies.

"Speaking of movies, do you want to watch one?" Nick asked hopefully. "I've got a collection."

"Of coarse you do," Sara said with a pursed lip smile. He got up and walked over to pick a movie.

"No, I'll do it," she said, "You sit," she said sternly, pointing at the couch.

He couldn't help but smile. "Ok, ok. I'm going," he raised his hands in surrender, walking over to the couch. Sara picked out a movie and showed him. "How about this one?"

"Pirates of the Caribbean?" Nick smiled at her choice.

"Yeah," she looked at the cover, "I like this movie," she said with a shrug.

"Ok," Nick said as he watched her put it into the player and press play.

They sat and waited for the movie to start. Nick started shifting in his seat. He got comfortable and they watched the movie. Not half and hour into it Nick was asleep on Sara's shoulder. She turned down the volume so it wouldn't wake him. She slipped her arm carefully around him and leaned her head against his and watched the rest of the movie.

When it was over Sara slipped out from under Nick and tried to wake him up softly. He woke and rubbed his eyes groggily.

"Hey sleepy," Sara said with a smile, "time to go to bed."

"Hmmm," was his answer.

Sara smiled and helped him get up. She walked him into the bedroom and helped him lie on the bed. But he was awake now. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"Couch." She answered softly, untucking his sheets

"Can't you sleep here?"

Sara just looked at him. She was about to say something, but then closed her mouth and tried again. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said, even though she was wishing she could sleep in that bed.

"I don't think so," Nick said finalizing the issue. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her into the bed. She only resisted a little but said, "No, really Nick. I can sleep on the couch," and she tried to turn away.

"But I want you to sleep here." He was sitting up in the bed now and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down from behind. Sara let out a little squeal as she fell onto the bed. He still had his arms wrapped around her and hugged her close.

"Fine, you win," Sara said, even though they both already knew it. Sara kicked off her shoes and rested up against Nick. He sighed behind her and she felt him relax. They lay in silence and Sara thought Nick had fallen asleep. She was a little startled when he started to speak.

"Sara?"

"Uh-huh?"

He paused. "About our date." Sara turned around in his arms until she was facing him. "Nick we don't have to talk about it."

"No, I want to," Nick said quickly, "When I was….when I was missing, well it helped me." He paused. "It gave me something…happy to think about." It was dark but Sara could tell he was avoiding looking at her. She was close to tears again and she looked at him.

"Nick," she tried to search for the words, her voice shaky, "I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose the man I loved…" She saw his head shoot up. There was a brief pause, then, "You love me?" shaky and quiet.

Sara nodded and whispered, "Yeah, Nick." She let the tears fall, "I love you so much."

Nick looked into her eyes a moment, seeing that she meant it and kissed her. He kissed her with all the passion he felt. Then he pulled away, "I love you too, Sara." He brushed her tears from her cheeks and she smiled and held the hand touching her face. They snuggled into each other and fell asleep.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Sara was sitting in the break room when Grissom walked in. This was her first shift since Nick came home and she had been skipping and singing the entire time. Grissom silently got a cup of coffee from the machine and sat down across from Sara.

"So how is Nick doing?" he asked. She looked up from the file she was reading.

"Excellent. He's planning on coming back the day after tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"Great," Grissom said. This really wasn't exactly what he wanted to talk about, and he was wondering how to bring it up. "Umm, Sara?" She looked at him. He took a deep breath.

"Is there anything going on between you and Nick?" he asked. She looked at him with her mouth open. She tried to think of something to say but the words kept on catching in her throat. Then she remembered that Grissom was emotionally handicapped.

"How did you know?" she said quietly.

"Umm…" he looked down at his hands, "Do you remember when Nick was talking into that tape?" She looked at him to go on. He sighed and continued, "Well I was reading his lips. You were in it." If it was possible Sara looked even more surprised.

"He said that he had enjoyed himself and hoped you could know how he felt about you." He looked at her waiting for her to start explaining. She was looking off into space, biting her bottom lip. Grissom cleared his throat, "Did you guys…did you…ummm…"

"NO! No, no we didn't. It was just a date," she said quickly and she could see Grissom was happy to be off that particular subject. "Is that ok?" she asked him.

"Oh, yes. Yeah its fine…just…I don't think you should tell Greg," He said getting up. "He wouldn't let you hear the end of it." Grissom gave her a half smile and he walked out the door, leaving Sara smiling, "Good idea," she said to herself, going back to the file in front of her.

Sara brushed imaginary lint off Nick's chest. "You know you don't have to do this," she said, not looking at him.

Nick held his head high and tried to be strong, even though he was really scared. Sara had told him all about his case. Sara and Nick both had cried more then they had in their entire lives, but now Nick knew everything about his case and everything about who he was about to go see.

"No. No I want to do this…I have to do this," he said just as a guard came to his side.

"You can go in now." Nick looked at Sara and said, "Wish me luck." Then he turned on his heel and followed the guard into the visiting room of the prison, off to see Kelly Gordon. "Good luck." She said to the closed door.

Nick waited for Kelly to sit and she started the conversation. "So you're the one."

"Yeah," he said, the tears already burning the back of his eyes.

"So what am I supposed to say…I'm sorry?" Kelly said nervously.

"No, no you didn't do anything to me." He paused," and I guess what you dad did, it was because he loved you so much." Kelly hung up the phone in frustration but Nick begged her to pick it back up, the tears actually coming down now. She did, reluctantly. Nick tried another approach.

"Kelly, when you get out of here…don't take it with you." Kelly finished the conversation and nick sat there a moment before getting up and joining Sara in the hall. He was crying when he came out and Sara rushed to hug him, and comfort him, so she cold help him get over this horrible nightmare.


End file.
